Tilburg University

About: Tilburg University is a education organization based out in Tilburg, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 5550 authors who have published 22330 publications receiving 791335 citations.

Poverty dynamics in eight countries

Abstract: Despite very different macroeconomic conditions, demographic structures and degrees of income inequality, favorable income changes among low-income families with children were widespread and strikingly similar across the eight countries in our study. In most European countries, the combination of modest inequality and extensive mobility among the poor enabled virtually all families to avoid relative income deprivation at least occasionally. However, even substantial mobility among the poor in the Unites States could not elevate the living standards of one in seven white and two in five black families to a level that was half that enjoyed by a typical American family.

Explaining cross-national differences in marriage, cohabitation, and divorce in Europe, 1990-2000.

Abstract: European countries differ considerably in their marriage patterns. The study presented in this paper describes these differences for the 1990s and attempts to explain them from a macro-level perspective. We find that different indicators of marriage (i.e., marriage rate, age at marriage, divorce rate, and prevalence of unmarried cohabitation) cannot be seen as indicators of an underlying concept such as the ‘strength of marriage’. Multivariate ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analyses are estimated with countries as units and panel regression models are estimated in which annual time series for multiple countries are pooled. Using these models, we find that popular explanations of trends in the indicators—explanations that focus on gender roles, secularization, unemployment, and educational expansion—are also important for understanding differences among countries. We also find evidence for the role of historical continuity and societal disintegration in understanding cross-national differences.

Neonatal effects of maternal hypothyroxinemia during early pregnancy.

Abstract: OBJECTIVE.We sought to examine the neurobehavioral profile of neonates who are born to women with hypothyroxinemia during early pregnancy. METHODS.Examined were 108 neonates who were born to mothers with low maternal free thyroid hormone (fT4 concentrations; 10th percentile) at 12 weeks’ gestation (case patients) and 96 neonates who were born to women whose fT4 values were between the 50th and 90th percentiles, matched for parity and gravidity (control subjects). Newborn development was assessed at 3 weeks of age using the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale. Maternal thyroid function (fT4 and thyrotropin hormone) was assessed at 12, 24, and 32 weeks’ gestation. RESULTS.Infants of women with hypothyroxinemia at 12 weeks’ gestation had significantly lower scores on the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale orientation index compared with subjects. Regression analysis showed that first-trimester maternal fT4 but not maternal TSH or fT4 later in gestation was a significant predictor of orientation scores. CONCLUSIONS.This study confirms that maternal hypothyroxinemia constitutes a serious risk factor for neurodevelopmental difficulties that can be identified in neonates as young as 3 weeks of age.